I don't know what most people expected Peter Walsh to be, but I thought someone who got this much interest from Clarissa must be pretty amazing. In the beginning of Mrs. Dalloway, before you learn the characters' true natures, it seems that Clarissa Dalloway is married to some boring politician type and that she really misses Peter. I assumed Peter would be this pretty great guy who rescued Clarissa from her marriage. I didn't know much about Clarissa's relationship with her husband Richard, but I just sort of assumed that they wouldn't work out based on patterns of other books that I've read.
At first, Peter seemed like Clarissa's lost love who had some annoying traits. But as I learned more about him, I could tell that thinking about him bothered Clarissa. It didn't bother her because she missed him so much. It bothered her because she could always hear him criticizing her. They may have had passion in their relationship, but she doesn't seem happy when she thinks about Peter. And throughout the book, we learn more about Clarissa and Richard's relationship, which is much less boring than one would expect.
Every time Clarissa used to think that Peter would judge her for marrying a politician, I thought that Richard would be some stuck-up, selfish politician. But Richard loves Clarissa a lot, and their relationship seems very warm and relaxed. It may lack the passion of Peter and Clarissa, but that doesn't mean that it's bad. In one chapter, Richard was very intent on giving Clarissa something to show his love for her, even after they had been married for quite a while. Richard and Clarissa do definitely love each other, which is why I don't know where Peter fits in the scheme of things.
Clarissa and Peter definitely have something, but I don't know if I would call it love. Maybe it used to be love, and maybe it still is, but it's not quite obvious. Peter tries to convince himself that he doesn't love Clarissa, and he claims to love another woman. But why then would he come to her house and cry (for reasons that still aren't 100% clear)? I know I sound biased against Peter, which I probably am, but I'm basing most of my information on how Clarissa sounds when she thinks about him. She sometimes enjoys moments with him, but whenever she thinks about him, his criticisms of her always seem to pop up in her head. I don't think Clarissa likes feeling this burden of Peter; she doesn't necessarily hate it, but it doesn't make her happy. So I wonder what Peter is going to do for the rest of Mrs. Dalloway. He is obviously a significant character and he is in the same town as Clarissa, but what could become of Peter and Clarissa? Could they potentially make each other happy despite all of their problems? If not, then why is Peter there? I hope that this will become obvious as the book progresses.
At first, Peter seemed like Clarissa's lost love who had some annoying traits. But as I learned more about him, I could tell that thinking about him bothered Clarissa. It didn't bother her because she missed him so much. It bothered her because she could always hear him criticizing her. They may have had passion in their relationship, but she doesn't seem happy when she thinks about Peter. And throughout the book, we learn more about Clarissa and Richard's relationship, which is much less boring than one would expect.
Every time Clarissa used to think that Peter would judge her for marrying a politician, I thought that Richard would be some stuck-up, selfish politician. But Richard loves Clarissa a lot, and their relationship seems very warm and relaxed. It may lack the passion of Peter and Clarissa, but that doesn't mean that it's bad. In one chapter, Richard was very intent on giving Clarissa something to show his love for her, even after they had been married for quite a while. Richard and Clarissa do definitely love each other, which is why I don't know where Peter fits in the scheme of things.
Clarissa and Peter definitely have something, but I don't know if I would call it love. Maybe it used to be love, and maybe it still is, but it's not quite obvious. Peter tries to convince himself that he doesn't love Clarissa, and he claims to love another woman. But why then would he come to her house and cry (for reasons that still aren't 100% clear)? I know I sound biased against Peter, which I probably am, but I'm basing most of my information on how Clarissa sounds when she thinks about him. She sometimes enjoys moments with him, but whenever she thinks about him, his criticisms of her always seem to pop up in her head. I don't think Clarissa likes feeling this burden of Peter; she doesn't necessarily hate it, but it doesn't make her happy. So I wonder what Peter is going to do for the rest of Mrs. Dalloway. He is obviously a significant character and he is in the same town as Clarissa, but what could become of Peter and Clarissa? Could they potentially make each other happy despite all of their problems? If not, then why is Peter there? I hope that this will become obvious as the book progresses.
I like Peter in that his presence serves as a nice device with which Woolf uses to drive home one of the main (and most interesting) points of her book, which is that while people may partially "get" us, they really have no idea as to what is actually going on in our internal lives. Peter's judginess often isn't incredibly far off the mark, but it invariably lacks the understanding of the nuanced nature of the objects of his judgement.
ReplyDeleteI think that Clarissa finds Peter's criticism much like the pressure we get from our own peers. It's not exactly the same thing, but I think it's for the same reasons. Peter does get very nervous (his knife thing) and I think this indicates his self-consciousness and that would make sense why he constantly criticizes Clarissa.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your opinion of Clarissa's relationship with Peter. It is not the romantic feelings she had for him, but his disapproval that keeps him tied to her thoughts. I guess he represents what could have happened, and I think that by the end of the book Clarissa thinks she has made the right decision by marrying Richard. I do think that Peter still feels for Clarissa, evidenced by his crying, or how Clarissa is constantly on his mind. But I think that he is happy with his decisions too, because at the party, he is glad that he is not married, and never had children. Though, with the book's end, it is not clear whether he is happy to see Clarissa,or because he loves her.
ReplyDeleteI had the exact same thoughts throughout this book. I never really knew what his role was supposed to be. He was confusing in his constant state of disagreement and going back and forth on his feelings for Clarissa. Certainly the degree to which he thought of her means that he isn't completely over her. And then the ending of the book wasn't much help either! Peter is filled with this terror and ecstasy and excitement, which he at first has no idea where all this is coming from. He then realizes in the last sentence of the book, that it is from seeing Clarissa. I'm not sure if this means he will try to pursue her again. However, it certainly solidifies the idea that he still feels very much attached to her.
ReplyDeleteOne insight I draw from this book is that words like "love" can represent a staggering diversity of relationships. Peter is "in love" with his new fiancee back in India, but he admits to himself that he goes days without even thinking of her. He doesn't "love" Clarissa the way he presumably did when he asked her to marry him--he fully accepts that she's chosen this life with Richard--but she still looms so large in his consciousness in a way that can't fully be contained by any standard relationship-designation (kind of brother-sister, kind of old friends/rivals, kind of ex-lovers, kind of still in love with each other . . .). Likewise, Peter exists in Clarissa's consciousness largely to torment her, it seems--she always imagines him criticizing her. But this internal voice of criticism is, in a way, a good thing--it keeps her honest, forces her to reflect on her own actions and motives and "defend" herself to the Peter she imagines in her mind. This compels her to articulate her own reasons and motives for herself; Peter's criticism leads to introspection.
ReplyDeleteThis stuff is complicated, Woolf might say.